Standing lined up in a row along the footpath, they yell out in broken English familiar handbag brands like Coach, Prada and Burberry. Turning my attention to one, the young pale Chinese girl flips out a collection of laminated cards from her pocket with images of knock-off handbags before she asks: “You want? I take you go look.”

Quickly taking me around the corner, she leads me to a run-down building. Fumbling for her keys, she looks behind us making sure no-one else has followed before opening the door and shutting it as if she is afraid that too much light would enter into the dark and empty building. Nothing is inside but wooden frames separating the interior into divided rooms. She leads me up a set of stairs while walking past others who are taking part in the exchange that I see myself participating in within the next five minutes.

We halt at another door before she opens it and reveals to me her collection of knock-off handbags that I saw earlier on those cards. Pacing up and down, she randomly blurts out prices.

“$50, $45...$30,” she says as I slowly scan through the room for the perfect bag.

I finally spot one I like.

“I gib to you for $55,” the lady says.

And this is when the fun begins. Throwing numbers back and forth at each other, I eventually walk out within minutes with my new ‘Coach’ bag for a bargain price of $30.

This is the beauty of shopping along Canal Street in Chinatown, New York’s pseudo version of Asia. It is the perfect district to get all those souvenirs for people back home while also picking up other bargains for yourself as the power of haggling is in play here.

Veering off from Canal Street, you’ll find yourself manoeuvring through the small streets of Chinatown packed with people conversing among each other in Vietnamese or in various dialects of Chinese as they do their daily grocery shopping. You’ll also find yourself squeezing your way through and making room for the delivery guys who are unloading boxes of noodles off from their trucks as they get wheeled into the stores.

There are also plentiful of Asian cuisines at hand which will make you salivate - roasted duck and pork hanging off from hooks, the smell of hot beef noodle soup and freshly stir-fried noodles are just a few. Alternatively, you can keep moving and still grab a bite from the vending carts on the side of the roads that serve up warm congee and noodles in plastic take-away containers for a bargain of two dollars. Now that is satisfying.